We are glad at this hour that Jefferson was wrong in his adverse construction of the Constitution and glad that he was liberal minded enough to see that he might be wrong. And yet may we not profitably pause here long enough to contrast in our thoughts the careful and reverent manner in which the restrictions of our fundamental law were scrutinized a hundred years ago with the tendency often seen in later times to flippantly attempt the adjustment of our Constitution to the purposes of interest and convenience?
In conclusion, I hope I may be permitted to suggest that our thoughts and surroundings on this occasion should lead us to humble recognition of the providence of God in all that has made us a great nation. From our beginning as a people our course has been marked by concurrences and incidents so striking, so significant and so constant, that only superstitious dullness or intellectual blindness will place them to the credit of luck or chance.
In the midst of our rejoicing to-day it is peculiarly fitting that we recall with soberness and meekness some of the happiness in connection with the great event we celebrate, which impressively illustrate the interposition of Divine Providence in our behalf. We sought from a nation ruled by one whose ambition was boundless and whose scheme for aggrandizement knew neither the obligations of public morality nor the restraints of good faith, the free navigation of the Mississippi River, and such insignificant territory as would make such navigation useful. While our efforts toward the accomplishment of this slight result languished and were fast assuming a hopeless condition, the autocrat of France suddenly commanded one of his ministers to enter into negotiations with our waiting and dispirited representatives and exclaimed: "I renounce Louisiana. It is not only New Orleans I cede. It is the whole colony without reserve."
It was only nineteen days thereafter that the treaty transferring to us the magnificent domain comprised within the Louisiana Purchase was concluded.
This astonishing change in our prospects, which dissipated the fears and apprehensions of our Government and revived the promise of our perpetuity and happy destiny, came at the very moment that Bonaparte was organizing a force to occupy the Louisiana Territory in the prosecution of colonial occupation and development, which, if consummated, would probably have closed the door even to the slight acquisition which we originally sought. The French colony of Santo Domingo was, however, a prime factor in this scheme of occupation, and it was essential to its success that this colony and Louisiana should both be included and should supplement each other. A serious revolt then raging in Santo Domingo delaying proceedings, the occupation of Louisiana was postponed until this revolt should be overcome. The troops sent from France to accomplish this apparently easy task were so stubbornly resisted by hundreds of thousands of freed blacks fighting against their reenslavement, and they suffered so terribly from climatic conditions and deadly fever, that after the sacrifice of 25,000 soldiers, many of whom were intended for the subsequent occupation of Louisiana, Bonaparte's plan for the occupation of both colonies miscarried. The disappointment and the conception of new schemes of war and conquest by the restless dictator of France, and his need of money to carry out these schemes, were controlling circumstances in leading him to throw in our lap the entire Louisiana Territory. None of these circumstances were within our procurement or knowledge; but who shall say that God was not accomplishing His designs in our behalf amid the turmoil and distressing scenes of Santo Domingo's revolt? And how can it be said that there was no Providence in the unexpected unyielding and successful fight for continued freedom on the part of the negroes of Santo Domingo, or in the fatal pestilence that vied with bloody warfare in the destruction of the army of subjugation, or in the fever of war and aggression which heated the blood of Bonaparte, all combining to turn him away from the occupation of the Louisiana Territory? All these things, so remote and so far out of sight, pointed with the coercion that belongs to the decrees of God to a consummation which restored to our people peace and contentment, and secured to our nation extension and development beyond the dreams of our fathers.
Thus we may well recall in these surroundings the wonderful measure of prophecy's fulfillment within the span of a short century, the spirit, the patriotism, and the civic virtue of Americans who lived a hundred years ago, and God's overruling of the wrath of man and His devious ways for the blessing of our nation.
We are all proud of our American citizenship. Let us leave this place with this feeling stimulated by the sentiments born of the occasion. Let us appreciate more keenly than ever how vitally necessary it is to our country's weal that everyone within its citizenship should be clean minded in political aim and aspiration, sincere and honest in his conception of our country's mission, and aroused to higher and more responsive patriotism by the reflection that it is a solemn thing to belong to a people favored of God.
Eighth. "America," with full chorus and band accompaniment.
Ninth. Prayer by Bishop E.R. Hendrix:
Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, we devoutly thank and worship Thee, the Author of our being, and the gracious source of all our blessings. We are because Thou art; and Thou hast made us in Thy image capable of fellowship with Thee and delighting in a fellowship with one another as we resemble Thee. Thou hast given us our reason and the power of cooperation with one another in all worthy ends looking to the well-being of our race. Civilization with its conquests over the material world is possible only with Thy aid. Christianity with its conquests over evil is the work of God and man, as Thou dost call us to be Thy fellow-workers and dost inspire us with courage and faith.